An Eighth Shot of Espresso: Coffee and Creativity on Mum's Third Shift

What I've learned  from cats:  do not settle  for anything less  rest and relaxation  keeps you nimble  falling leaves  outside the window  is all the entertainment  you really need  food always there water always filled the sound of treat bag is a rallying cry affection in small doses  when you want them  we're all from royalty  and should be respected

A midnight run  to buy some snacks  study group together  too much coffee  not enough sleep  final lab projects  fifteen page essays  back with all-nighters  in the computer center  with the printers hooked up the dot matrix chatter because you didn't have  a desktop of your own  Those ancient days  thirty years ago

Be gentle  a soft touch  can do so much  more than a harsh one.  But such is mistaken  not as strength  but as weakness  in a world of false power  They say we need  to toughen ourselves  to survive through life  no indulgences  So soft rain  on our cheek  feels like the lash  of pure scorn. The wind smashes through the rigid buildings of the mind while the plum blossoms bend and survive the hurricane.

Inspired by a #MPPrompt on Bluesky (Thanks, Malachy!) I guess poetry  doesn't have to rhyme?  So all I have to do  is just break up  lines  just like  this  word salad  indubitably  unerringly  without a doubt  my heartburn  sounds so smart  the cows  ate dad's keys anyone can do it, it's easy But hey  no one says  it has to make sense  right?

Tucked away  in buried grovefolds where ash and oak trees  used to grow in the wild  the bones of the old ones  the druids and the wise women  who knew this ancient land  sleep calm and undisturbed  no stones to mark them  only flowers for pillows their blood still runs through the loamy soil the birds sing their songs because nature still remembers

Pressure on my shoulders  I cannot breathe as  the gravity of life  crushes my will  and causes my bones  to crack in tiny places  this is not only encouraged it is accepted as the way it has always been they teach me a trick  to accept the burden  and carry it lightly  for the willow bends  and does not break even as gale-force winds rip the ground away all around it.